An honest look at how Better Español stacks up against the most popular tools for learning Spanish. Every app has strengths — here's where each one shines.
| Feature | Better Español | Duolingo | Anki | Babbel |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lock Screen Widgets | ||||
| Spaced Repetition | FSRS | Basic | SM-2 / FSRS | Basic review |
| Built-in Dictionary | No (add-ons) | |||
| Custom Decks | ||||
| Free Tier | Yes (with ads) | Yes (desktop) | First lesson | |
| CEFR Level Organisation | Loose | No (user-built) | ||
| Ease of Setup | Install and go | Account required | Manual setup | Account required |
| Price | Free + optional Pro | Free / $12.99 mo | Free / $24.99 iOS | $14.95 mo |
Duolingo is the best on-ramp to a new language there has ever been — it is genuinely fun, and the gamification works. But its Spanish course is built around guided lessons you sit down to complete, and its review scheduling is comparatively blunt. Better Español is not trying to be a course. It is a vocabulary engine: it puts words in front of you between the moments you would have spent doing nothing, and it schedules reviews with FSRS so each word comes back exactly when it is about to slip. Many people use both — Duolingo for grammar and structure, Better Español to make the vocabulary stick.
Anki is the power user's tool, and deservedly so: it is free, endlessly configurable, and its scheduler is the reason spaced repetition went mainstream. The cost is everything you have to do before you can study. You find or build a deck, you tune the settings, you learn the interface, and on iOS you pay $24.99 for the privilege. Better Español ships with Spanish content already written, a dictionary you can save from, and defaults that are sensible on the first launch. If you love tinkering, Anki is still excellent. If you want to be reviewing within a minute of installing, this is the shorter path.
Babbel's strength is dialogue — its lessons are written by linguists around realistic conversations, and it is one of the better ways to get to functional speaking. It is also a subscription-first product built around a study session you schedule. Better Español works the other way round: passive exposure through widgets first, active review second, and no requirement to book time with it. The two are complementary rather than competing. Babbel teaches you how Spanish is spoken; Better Español makes sure you still remember the words a month later.
No account, no configuration, no thirty-minute study block. Just a word on your lock screen.